Provocations

Behind surface corruption in the US economy and military-industrial complex

The forces shaping US foreign policy today

Eugene Jarecki is an award-winning dramatic and documentary filmmaker whose previous film WHY WE FIGHT won the 2005 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. THE TRIALS OF HENRY KISSINGER, won the 2002 Amnesty International Award. In addition to his work in film, Jarecki is also the Founder and Executive Director of The Eisenhower Project, an academic public policy group, dedicated in the spirit of Dwight D. Eisenhower, to studying the forces that shape American foreign policy.

Historic power shift in El Salvador

A story that could use a little more exposure and depth: El Salvador's first left-wing government in its 130-year history:

Evo Morales in his own words, speaks in the USA

In this part of the world (North America), when the name Evo Morales is mentioned, it's usually by someone talking about him - mostly about what they or others think of him.  Here he is in his own words during a recent visit, talking to the people of the USA (and others who don't usually hear him).

Bill Maher's 'Religulous': interview and review

One of my favourite provocation artists at work:

Review of Religulous by Josh Tyler

Russia invades Georgia - a look behind the obvious

So, where do you stand on the Russian invasion of Georgia? The mainstream media have had no problem in telling us where they think we should stand and, on the face of it, framing the Russians as the baddies is a natural. However, if you'd like to take six minutes and look a little deeper, this talking head (Pablo Escobar) video does a pretty good job of adding a little depth and perspective.

Phil Donahue on corporate media in wartime

I don't like unsolicited e-mail any more than most but, during the lead-up and year or two following the US invasion of Iraq, I sent out many articles and links (generally welcomed) with information and opinion that just wasn't being included in the North American media. This interview with Phil Donahue considers this phenomenon of complicit mainstream media, then and now.

Show me the country where bombs had to fall

Show me the country where bombs had to fall,
Show me the ruins of buildings once so tall,
And I'll show you a young land with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or go I -- you and I.
You and I,
There but for fortune, go you or go I -- you and I.

-  Phil Ochs.

Slave burial site opens in New York City

What a simple way to demonstrate acknowledgement!  Let's hope there's more of this.
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A museum is also planned for the site

A burial ground for African slaves, which had been forgotten for almost two centuries, has been opened to the public in New York.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and poet Maya Angelou attended a dedication ceremony for a monument at the site.

Full story from the BBC

Naomi Klein: The Shock Doctrine

This video, unlike many move "trailers', pretty clearly speaks for itself. Here's a brief introduction By Naomi Klein, author of the book and co-producer of the movie (with Alfonso  Cuarón).

When I finished The Shock Doctrine, I sent it to Alfonso Cuarón because I adore his films and felt that the future he created for Children of Men was very close to the present I was seeing in disaster zones. I was hoping he would send me a quote for the book jacket and instead he pulled together this amazing team of artists -- including Jonás Cuarón who directed and edited -- to make The Shock Doctrine short film. It was one of those blessed projects where everything felt fated.

The book:

What a Way to Go - the end of an imperial lifestyle

This apparently US-centric movie is global in its implications. However, like An Inconvenient Truth it seems to be aimed at the long-standing, but now shifting, reluctance in the US to face the end of their empire, tied as it is to a lifestyle addicted to consumption, fossil fuel, never-ending growth and an almost-messianic national self-image. 

The movie features people in the U.S., like Richard Heinberg and Daniel Quinn, who have for years sounded the alarm and suggested changes that would avert this looming catastrophe.

The movie web site for What a Way to Go - Life at the End of the Empire, describes it as "A middle class white guy comes to grips with Peak Oil, Climate Change, Mass Extinction, Population Overshoot and the demise of the American Lifestyle."  Daniel Quinn says "The two hours of this documentary are two hours that bring hope for the future of humanity by awakening and informing in the most profound yet lucid way imaginable." See what you think of the two trailers recently out: